CORAL - Fallen (A Romance Trilogy, Book 2) (47 page)

I instantly picture his face, his angry
face, ok, not tonight, but definitely tomorrow.
Forget her Coral, take a
deep breath and get back to your man!

I stare at myself in the mirror again. I
decide to be brave, walk out there and take my man home. I look down at my myself,
I have a dress on for the very first time in my life –
Don
’
t let Susannah ruin this night!

I nod in agreement with myself. I’m wearing
a dress and I feel really good in it, then I think about the sexy underwear I
have on, and what Tristan’
s reaction will be to it.
I picture us going home, Tristan stripping this dress off me, his
eyes lighting up when he sees the sexy underwear  have on. I instantly imagine
him making love to me, on the floor, in front of the fire. My stomach flutters
with desire.
Whoa!

With that idea firmly set in my mind, I
quickly wash my hands, being careful with my new ring and head out of the
ladies. Rounding the corner, I look down the restaurant to where we are seated,
Tristan is gone and so has his jacket –
Fuck! He’
s left me….
I feel all the blood drain
out of my face.

I search the room frantically looking for
him, when I locate him I feel my heart drop into the pit of my stomach – He’
s sat next to Susannah and
she looks like
she’
s crying –
and he has her
hand in his!

I take two steps back, shaking my head in
disbelief –
No, no, no, no, no! This is not happening!

Susannah glances up, I know she’
s seen me, she purposely starts choking back tears, Tristan looks
a little lost and just as I thought, he tries to comfort her. He
puts his arm around her shoulder, she leans into his chest and puts her arm
around his waist –
That’
s it, I
’
m done!

I stomp out the Restaurant, down the
gangplank and head in the direction of the Marina, my heels clicking loudly
against the pavement.

I should feel nervous, it’
s gone dark and I
’
m
on my own, but I
’
m too mad to
think about that.
Besides, they are loads of people out
tonight, enjoying the warm evening, and the street lamps are lighting up the
pavement and the roads.
At least there are no dark alleyways I have to walk
down!

A slight breeze kicks up, it makes me
shiver slightly, I wrap my arms around myself and quicken my pace. I’
m so mad at Tristan I can
’
t believe he would do that with any woman, let
alone Susannah.
This is supposed to be our night, he just
proposed to me for Christ sake!

Five minutes into my walk, I hear my mobile
buzz in my purse. I know it’
s going to be Tristan. I
wonder for a second if I should answer it, I instantly picture him h
olding Susannah and change my mind.
He can just stew for now!

Just as I pass Brighton Pier, I notice a
bunch of men walking down the pier towards me, they are loud and definitely
pissed up.

My mobile buzzes again, I picture Tristan’
s face, his frantic look
as he searches for
me –
God damn it
! I stop walking, open my purse and pull my mobile out.
I look at the screen –
Yep its Tristan
. I feel torn, on the one hand, I
want him to stew, on the other I don’
t want to worry
him,
I don’
t like causing him
pain.

Rel
uctantly, I
answer it. “
What?
”
I snap.

“
Where the hell are
you?
”
he snaps back.

“
I
’
m going back to my studio
,”
I bark.

“
Coral
’ – “
Don
’
t
,”
I say, my voice
shaking.

“
I don
’
t understand
’ – “
You
’
re a smart man
Tristan, I
’
m sure you
’
ll figure it out!
”
I say hanging u
p on him.

“
Alright sexy!
”
I hear a man shout,
slurring his words.

Keeping my head down I glance to the right and
see the bunch of men have nearly reached me.
Ignoring
them, I carry on walking.

“
Ah don
’
t be like that
.”
A different one shouts
. Just keep
walking
, I tell myself, but I hear them all laughing, egging each other on,
their footsteps following me –
Shit!

I search the roads, hoping I’
ll see a taxi that I can flag down, but wouldn
’
t you know it, not one passes me by.
My heart starts to hammer against my chest, and my mouth feels as
dry as a bone. I wonder for a second if I should call Tristan? I’
m starting to feel a little panicky, and I have every reason to,
because just as I think that one of them grabs my arm.

“
Come on sexy, come
out with us
.”
Spin
ning round to face them all, I yank my arm out of his grasp.

“
Don
’
t touch me
,”
I threaten, feeling my blood boil within me.

They all look at each other, and smirk.
There’
s five of them, and I notice two of them can
barely stand up straight, they are so pis
sed –
Ok,
stay calm!

I go to turn around, so I can walk away
from them, but they surround me, like a pack of wolves ready to take down an
injured animal.

“
Don
’
t be like that
,”
the leader says.
I try to shove past one of
them, but he laughs and pushes me backwards.
Shit!

All the training I’
ve
done with Will has disappeared; literally fallen out of my head, my
mind is completely blank. I try not to panic, but I don’
t think I would if it was just one
of them, but
how the hell am I meant to protect myself from five?

“
What
’
s your rush?
”
the other one asks, mock punching the leader. They both start
laughing again.
I need to get out of here!

The leader takes a step closer to me. I
take a step back and come up against the chest of one of them. I spin around and
using both my hands I slam into his chest, he staggers backwards, leaving an
opening. I push past the other and out of their circle.
Thank god!

I want to run, but I don’
t want to show them how threatened I feel, quickening my pace, I
make the stupid mistake
of looking behind me. I see the
leader laugh and slap his friend on the back, then they both start jogging
towards me –
Shit!

“
What
’
s your name?
”
the leader asks as he reaches me.

I keep my eyes forward and ignore him.

“
Oi I
’
m talking to you
,”
he shouts
and grabs my arm again.

“
Get off me!
”
I screech and try to pull my arm out of
his grasp – Right at that moment he
’
s yanked away from me, and I
’
m pushed to the side
.
Tristan!

Tristan growls and punches the guy so hard
I think I hear bones crack. He crumples in a heap on the floor. His friend
launches toward Tristan, but he’
s taken down just as
quickly
, then Tristan’
s head
whips round to me.

“
Get in the car
Coral
,”
he
growls and turns back to glare wildly at my would be attackers. I
hear him say the words and I know I should, but I feel frozen to the floor.

In a daze I turn and see Stuart get out of
the Jag, he walks around car and opens the back passenger door for me; he
doesn’
t seem to be concerned about Tristan at all
.

The leader stumbles back up, his eye is
split, blood pouring from it and I think his nose is bleeding too. He wipes his
nose with his hand, sees the blood and bunches his hands into fists.

“
I wouldn
’
t
,”
Tristan warns.

The guy turns and glares at me
. “
Fucking dick tease
,”
he spits.
Dick
Tease?
I’
m a dick tease
for saying no to you? Anger rears up inside me, I feel livid. My
training comes back into play and all I want to do is hit the guy.

I drop my bag, clench my fists and take two
steps towards him, but Tristan steps in front of me, effectively blocking me.
No!

“
Come on then!
”
He shouts, stepping towards me. I try to
step around Tristan, but he yanks me behind him keeping his eyes locked on the
guy.
“
Fucking whore!
”
He spits
, blood
splattering the ground in front of us.

Tristan hits him again, it happens so fast
it’
s almost a blur. I stare
at him,
lying face down, out cold on the floor. The other guy stumbles up to his feet,
just as his other friends start making their way over to us –
Uh-oh!

“
Move
,”
Tristan growls yanking me by th
e arm, he quickly bends down and picks up my bag. My steps falter as
I try to keep up with him marching us over to the car. With the door already
open, Tristan shoves me inside and slides in next to me –
Holy fuck!

Stuart slams the door shut, jumps into the
driver seat and instantly drives away, tires squealing as he does. We drive
back up to the house in complete silence. Stuart pulls up in the driveway,
keeping the engine running. Tristan steps out then leans inside with his hand.
I silently take it, sliding across the seat in a daze. Tristan helps me to my
feet then he leans down and nods to Stuart who pulls away.

We silently walk to the front door. Tristan
unlocks it and gestures for me to go first. I take a step and stumble in my
heels, my legs don’
t feel like my own. Tristan
wraps his arm around my waist, and slowly walks me inside. I hear
him shut the door, and punch the code in for the alarm.

“
Coral
,”
his voice is firm and sharp. He comes and
stands in front of me, assessing me.
“
Are you alright?
”
he
asks frowning down at me.

I don’
t h
ave any words, but I’
m shaking from head to
toe.

“
Coral?
”
I go to speak, but my mouth just opens and
closes, I feel really weird?

“
You
’
re in shock
,”
he
says, then scooping me up into his arms,
he walks over to the sofa and gently sits me down. “Please don’
t move
,”
he adds
.

I watch Tristan walk into the kitchen,
removing his jacket as he does. Returning to me he places a can of Pepsi in my
hand, I shake my head at him. He rolls his eyes at me, takes the can off me,
opens it up and places it back in my hand.

“
Drink it
,”
he orders
. “
It will help with the shock
,”
he adds.

I take a sip, then another. Then I realize
how thirsty I am and glug back several mouthfuls.
Whoa! That’
s fizzy and cold!

I shiver slightly, Tristan is instantly on
his feet pulling the throw around me. I go to hand him back the can, he reaches
his hand out, and that’
s when I see it –
Holy fuck!

“
Tristan
,”
I gasp
. “
Your hand
!”